China News Service, Langfang, March 27th: Mao Weitao talks about the hit Shaoxing opera "New Dragon Inn" again: it will not be achieved overnight
Author Gao Kai Zeng Yue
"The popularity of Yue Opera this time is definitely not achieved overnight, but is due to the continuous exploration and accumulation of creative ideas of generations of Yue opera people." On the 27th, he once again talked about the popular Yue opera "New Dragon Inn", Chinese Drama Mao Weitao, vice chairman of the Artists Association and famous Yue opera performing artist, made the above remarks.
Since its debut at the end of March 2023, the environmental Yue opera "New Dragon Inn" has become popular all over the country in nearly a year. Not only has the number of performances and attendance reached new highs, but its related videos and topics on the Internet continue to be hot.
Through "New Longmen Inn", a large number of audiences who had never known Yue opera began to pay attention to this traditional opera, and many people became new hardcore "Yue fans".
As the initiator and artistic director of the Yue Opera "New Longmen Inn" project, Mao Weitao, who is participating in the World Theater Day celebrations in Langfang, Hebei Province, said bluntly that it is no accident that "New Longmen Inn" has been so popular among audiences, especially young audiences. She said that for many years, generations of Yue opera performers have been conducting innovative explorations, "thinking about how to integrate with today's times and use Yue opera as a carrier to express our feelings as living beings about the current world and current life."
In fact, from newly edited works such as "Kong Yiji" and "Er Quan Ying Yue" to the new version of "Butterfly Lovers" that incorporates many new ideas, Mao Weitao himself has always devoted great efforts to the renewal of Yue Opera.
Regarding "New Dragon Inn" specifically, Mao Weitao believes that for contemporary people, the free and easy freedom of the characters in this martial arts story should be the most appealing. "My destiny is up to me and not God", especially the arc of the characters on Jin Xiangyu's body, which is very in line with contemporary aesthetics and is vivid and dazzling.
Mao Weitao also emphasized that in the inheritance and innovation of opera, "there is something new in the old, and there is a root in the new". Although we do our best to pursue expressions that are suitable for the current era in terms of concepts, "our expression method will always be derived from the most traditional four functions of Chinese opera." The Five Methods come from our traditional Chinese drama spirit."
In her view, these root elements are everywhere, including the hand, eye, body, appearance of the general and the general, the "old-fashioned" and a table and two chairs, which are all the timeless and freehand beauty of traditional Chinese opera.
On March 27, Mao Weitao (first from left) was at the 2024 World Theater Day celebration. (Photo courtesy of the organizer of the World Theater Day celebration)
World Theater Day is one of the core activities of the International Theater Association. Talking about the global exchange of drama art, Mao Weitao said that he has performed many classic works of foreign writers in the form of Yue opera, from Shakespeare's "The General Coriolan" to "Chun Qin Shuo" by the Japanese aesthetic master Junichiro Tanizaki. She believes that the creation is not only a process of integration between different cultures, but also a process of further displaying her own artistic charm.
Mao Weitao took "General Coriolan" as an example and said that unlike other forms of expression, the Coriolan she played in the Yue opera did not wear armor. On the stage at that time, the four skills and five methods in traditional Chinese opera were the armor of the characters. "These are the very artistic charms of our traditional opera." (End)